I remember when I first heard Whitney Houston. She had such a great voice and she was beautiful to boot! She seemed to have it all (including Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard). My friends and I were a little puzzled when she married Bobby Brown, a singer several years younger than her. He just did not seem her type – after all, Whitney’s mom, Crissy, is a gospel singer. Moreover, Bobby, well Bobby seemed like a troublemaker. At first, they seemed happy. By 1992, Whitney was the only female artist to have three albums (Whitney Houston, Whitney, and The Bodyguard soundtrack) that each sold over 9 million copies. In 1993, Whitney gave birth to a baby girl, Bobbi Kristina. Everything seemed perfect.
Then trouble started. Bobby was arrest numerous times for DUI and battery. There were two investigations into alleged spousal abuse, but Whitney refused to cooperate with the police. Finally, in 1998, he was ordered to do jail time for DUI. Then Whitney started acting strange. Her 2000 Oscar performance was cancelled because she was late and unprepared. She left a bag containing a small amount of marijuana in a Hawaii airport in 2001. In December 2002, she gave a bizarre interview to Diane Sawyer on “Primetime.” In it, Whitney said “First of all, let’s get one thing straight — crack is cheap, I make too much money to ever smoke crack” and the infamous quote “Crack is whack.” During the interview, she admitted to drug abuse, but said prayer had gotten her through it.
She finally admitted having a problem and entered rehab in March of 2004 and again in March of 2005. But, according the National Enquirer, she is still on drugs. Her sister-in-law claims to have gone on crack binges with Whitney. Every time you open a magazine, you see photos of Whitney looking dazed, confused, and just downright scary. Do the drugs have such a hold on her, she can’t quit? Or, do the people who surround her just give in and give her whatever she wants? I do not know what is going to happen to Whitney, but it is almost as if we are watching her self-destruct before our very eyes. For the sake of Bobbi Kristina if nothing else, I hope Whitney gets clean soon. Personally, I would not mind hearing that beautiful voice again – it is has not been irreparably broken.